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British cyber security firm Chaleit Holdings is set to float on London’s junior market next month, becoming the second company to unveil plans for a City listing on Wednesday as signs of life emerge from the capital’s battered IPO market.
The Cambridge-based business expects to begin trading on Aim on 7 October with a market value of around £11.2m, according to documents filed with the London Stock Exchange.
Chaleit is looking to raise approximately £1.6m as part of the listing, with the final issue price and number of shares yet to be confirmed.
The announcement landed on the same morning that Airtel Money confirmed plans for a far larger London float, in a rare double boost for a market that has struggled to attract new listings.
Airtel Africa’s mobile payments arm is targeting a valuation of between $8bn (£6bn) and $9bn and could raise around $800m through the sale of existing shares.
While Chaleit’s Aim debut is a fraction of that size, the pair add to a tentative pipeline of companies heading towards London’s public markets after a prolonged listings drought.
Just seven companies had floated in London this year before Wednesday’s announcements, raising a combined £577m, while a string of businesses have either delayed plans or looked elsewhere.
Airtel Money’s proposed float could become one of London’s biggest in recent years and would provide a significant lift to those figures.
Chaleit targets cyber growth
Chaleit, which was incorporated in England and Wales, specialises in penetration testing and “offensive security”, effectively attempting to hack clients’ systems to identify weaknesses before malicious attackers can exploit them.
The company also works across AI and large language model security, cloud security and cyber governance and compliance.
Its clients span financial services, technology, logistics, manufacturing, healthcare, legal services and critical infrastructure, with operations in the UK, Australia and US and plans to enter Singapore later this year.
Chaleit said it is profitable and cash generative and plans to use its existing business as a base for further organic growth and international expansion.
The float comes as companies face mounting cyber threats alongside growing use of artificial intelligence, which has created new security challenges for businesses.
The UK cyber security market generated £13.6bn in revenue in the 12 months to June, according to figures cited by Chaleit, with the market forecast to grow at an annual rate of 5.2 per cent through to 2031.
Chief executive Professor Dan Haagman began his cyber security career in London and previously worked at the London Stock Exchange, where he helped develop its early security operations capabilities.
Haagman and close relatives currently hold an 82 per cent stake in Chaleit, while chief financial and operating officer Jody Hyde and close relatives own 10 per cent. Their holdings following the float are yet to be determined.
The company will be chaired by Ken Ford, who acquired stockbroker Teather & Greenwood in 1998 before floating the business and selling it to Icelandic bank Landsbanki for £43m in 2005.